Dear all,

I am from Uruguay and I am planning to apply for an LLM on Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Chicago, Stanford and UPENN (for now at least...). I will be 25 years old next month, I graduated first of my class and second of the whole university. I have 3 years of working experience at the biggest law firm in my country, I have studied for 6 weeks in the US and I performed an internship in Italy.

I wanted to know if you think that it is possible for me to get admitted to these universities. Actually, I am worried about the timing. I know that with the crisis and all that many people is returning to law school, so I wanted to be sure if it is worthy to apply this year or f you recommend to wait until next year.

Additionally, I wanted to know if you think my cv and experience is sufficient or what else should I consider to include at the time of applying.

I may also consider other universities which are eassier to get in, so if someone can help me with that too that would be great!

Many thanks in advance.

You'll certainly get into different of those law schools. You'll be fine :--)

Thank you Santa!!!! Very encouraging!!!! I am a little bit scared :)

Yes, I agree. I think you would stand a good chance of admission. The competition for places will be more intense this year, but I think your qualifications will make you very competitive. If you want to expand your list, you might consider Yale (depending on your objective, as, I believe, it is generally a program to create academics), Berkeley, Boston College, Boston University, University of Michigan, Georgetown and Northwestern, all very good U.S. law schools with LL.M. programs.

Also, I don't know exactly why you included your age in your summary if not because you are concerned that you may be too old for a LL.M. (which is a concern expressed from time to time on this board). Bear in mind that U.S. law students complete a first undergraduate degree before attending law school (almost without exception), and 25, therefore, seems about average for U.S. law students and likely U.S. LL.M. students, even if they are foreign law graduates.

Exactly P_Martini, I was worried, but I think my age is average as you say... What other things you consider relevant for having chances of admission?

I think your application is fairly complete, as you have very good academic qualifications and significant work experience. Of course, you should make absolutely sure you get top recommendations, you should write an interesting personal statement and, if you have any publications, you should be sure to highlight those.

I think you have the basics of a very good application!

Your credential seems fine and like P_ Martini said you just need the creditable recommendations and a profound personal statement. Besides all these elements as an individual who has one invaluable experience in applying I would like to give you some tips in hope it may help you.
1-First of all apply for early notification ,in this way you will have a great chance to get the spot that allocated for your country, Especially if you want to get a decent scholarship.
2-all the university has the common question concerning the reason you are inclined to apply for this particular university ,for the proper and convincing answer you got to be educated about the university to point out the strong points of that university .
3- Answer all the questions about your future career ,your personal interest and so on briefly and strictly .
4- in some rare occasions some university ask for the subject you would like to work during LLM , I highly recommend you to come up with an innovative and challenging concept.
I believe applying is tricky in some way and sometimes you got to know how to play adroitly ,thats all my personal opinion about applying ,and it does not necessarily mean that everybody has the same opinion.
Good luck

Thank you stick to law! I will definitivelly apply as soon as possible and I will follow your advise in the process.

Actually, I will try to get all the financial aid availabe... What do you think about that? Is it possible for me to obtain some kind of scholarship or aid from that universities or do you see that way too complicated?

Thank you stick to law! I will definitivelly apply as soon as possible and I will follow your advise in the process.

Actually, I will try to get all the financial aid availabe... What do you think about that? Is it possible for me to obtain some kind of scholarship or aid from that universities or do you see that way too complicated?

Because my point of view seems to be appreciated:

First of all, I think you have a good chance to be accepted in several of the universities you want to apply to.

1. Harvard I have heard is rather generous with financial aid towards its admitted applicants. On the other hand I have no idea whether you will get into HLS.

2. It might be that schools like Michigan, UVA or Northwestern grant you a fair amount of tuition cut/scholarship, because you are an excellent candidate.

An acceptance from those top universities does not however give you the certainty of a grant. The thing I would do is just apply to most or all of the top 10 law schools and see what financial aid some offer. You can than make the balance between a slightly better school and a generous financial offer.

Santa's back.
I am so happy!

Santa's just watching all you kids from his cabin in the northpole! When you've been good and need a modest opinion on LLM matters, his reindeers are always ready!

Hahahahahahah. Thanks God for Santa then...

Because my point of view seems to be appreciated:


@ Santa
Or we can put it in this way that :
1-you are the first person who has a great answer for all enquiries from housing to financial aid.
2- you along some other persons established a record in the history of this web site
3- you are the first person who used a forged picture to make us believe that you acted in illusionist!!!!!
4- you get furious when someone uses your REPUTATION.
5- you are the one that everybody dreams to see every Christmas.
6-and finally you can grant every wish !!!!!!!!!!
Dose these reason seem enough to have your opinion on anything? To me it seems plenty .
Any way good luck in UVA??????????

Thanks man! Just stick to law and you'll be fine!

ya i am trying ,thanks for your tips.

Hi Maria,
Your credentials are great. The fact that you have legal experience is of value. Your resume will be much stronger than if you had simply earned an LLM immediately after earning your law degree.

One additional thought: If you want to practice law in the US, you would be better served attempting to earn a J.D. One of my colleagues earned her law degree from a fine Mexican law school and an LLM from an American law school, yet she was not permitted to take the Bar exam in most U.S. states; however, she was permitted to do so in New York, and she passed on the first attempt.

Otherwise, go for it and enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!!

Thank you so much LawyerinUSA! I was a little bit worried about my credentials, specially because I actually do not know which are the average credentials of the people applying and getting admitted...

My plans are to return to my home country once I finish the LLM, so I think that I will be fine even if I cannot take the Bar exam everywhere... Many thanks for your thoughts though...

I am presently studying in the fourth year of NALSAR i.e. an Indian Law School in the five year programme of B.A. LLb Hons. which is an undergradate degree. I am keen on an LLM from UK or USA. I kno its a bit early since I would be applying in 2010 November in my Fifth year.

Although, I am very confused about the requirments to secure a position in the better law schools. I was reading the discussion on this site and thought that some experienced chaps could help me.

I wanted to apply to Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, NYU, Stanford, Harvard. NALSAR the place im studying from is arguably the best law school of the country, due to which it becomes very difficult to mainatain a good rank within the class. With a CGPA of 6.6 / 8 I have managed to be in the top 20% of the class. I have won two All India moot court competitions and worked with professors, judges, lawyers and ngo`s by the end of the third year. I have 1 and half year to go before I apply for my LLM. I have also been to some international conferences and two or three publications.

I am very keen on getting into one of the abovementioned institutions. This year some 4 people got thru oxford and 4 at nyu from nalsar out of a class of 80 which is the batch size.

I wanted to kno, that what should i do in the next one and half yrs to improve my chances of getting through a desired LLM. Considering moving up the rank ladder for grades has become very difficult as the class has the most competitive and intelligent students of the country. Which institutions could be gud for internships. Does conferences help or publications? Does specialisation in one particular area help and should i concentrate my domain of activities only on one path or should the CV be very diverse and involved in multidisciplinary fields.

For refrees, only academic refrees are eligible, and cant i take a recommendation from one of the judges i have interned with? Would the fact that im in the top 20% of the class spoil my chances of getting through? Would the fact that my graduation colege is one of the best in the country help?

Kindly answer to my queries as I am confused on these issues. it could be of great help if someone acquainted in these areas could help.

I really don't understand why it is necessary to post such a long story here lol.

You've got great credentials. It seems to me you will certainly get into NYU and LSE. The other four institutions normally only take the very best students (Harvard top 2% max mostly, Oxford top 5%, Cam top 10%), but you have a lot of experience and stuff so I would definitely apply in all of those schools. Hard to predict whether you will be accepted though.

I'd also apply to Columbia and Chicago.